Subscribe

7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 13 of 18

The Erie Canal & Early Industry

Clinton's Ditch, steamboats and factories

What your child practices

The Erie Canal and how it made New York City the nation's leading port, steamboats and early railroads, early factories, and how the North's and South's economies grew apart.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 7.6c; 7.8a · early industrialization and the Erie Canal, and how regional economic differences grew

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Erie Canal (1825), about 363 miles long, linked the Hudson River to the Great Lakes.
  2. It made shipping cheap, so New York City became the nation’s leading port.
  3. Early mills ran on water power; interchangeable parts sped up manufacturing. The North and South economies grew apart.

Example: How did the Erie Canal change New York City? Goods from the West could float cheaply to New York. Trade poured through the city’s port. Answer: It became the nation’s leading port and trade center

The Erie Canal & Early Industry in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 13 of 18 in 7th grade Social Studies, after New York & the Constitution and before Reformers of New York.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    How did the Erie Canal change the cost of shipping goods from the Great Lakes to New York City?

    • it cut costs sharply
    • it had no effect
    • it made shipping impossible
    • it raised costs

  2. Question 2

    Interchangeable parts meant…

    • only gold parts were used
    • every part was handmade differently
    • parts could never be fixed
    • identical parts that could replace one another

  3. Question 3

    The Erie Canal connected…

    • the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo
    • New York City to Montauk
    • Lake Champlain to the Atlantic
    • Boston to Philadelphia

  4. Question 4

    Locks on a canal…

    • raise and lower boats between different water levels
    • pump out the water
    • stop all traffic
    • keep boats from leaving

  5. Question 5

    Which cities grew along the Erie Canal?

    • Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo
    • Boston, Hartford and Providence
    • Denver, Omaha and Tulsa
    • Richmond, Raleigh and Charleston

  6. Question 6

    New York's first railroad, the Mohawk and Hudson, opened in 1831 between…

    • Brooklyn and Boston
    • Buffalo and Chicago
    • Rochester and Montreal
    • Albany and Schenectady

More 7th grade